This is not a man with a blog.

A session perfectly played

By Shabbir | July 27, 2007 | Comments Off on A session perfectly played

I played a 2 hour session of $4/$8 Limit Hold’em at the Capitol Casino yesterday.  My focus was there and I played the session almost flawlessly.  I don’t even mind that I only made $10.  It felt so good to be in such command of my game.  The tighter I played, the more I realized…

2020 Visions: Our dystopian future

By Shabbir | July 26, 2007 | Comments Off on 2020 Visions: Our dystopian future

The future of America could be this bad.  Antibiotic resistant drugs, a new class system based upon money and access to a hypo-allergenic bubble, a black market economy where everything is for sale, severe limitations on "extremist speech", and unchecked violence.  Our society is descending into anarchy and you’ve got a front row seat. The…

A little every day

By Shabbir | July 26, 2007 | Comments Off on A little every day

I’m slightly embarassed to admit this, but I’m going to take some advice from Jerry Seinfeld though I was never a big fan of the show.  Apparently he told a young comic the secret of his success of how to get really, really good at one’s dream, in his case, writing comedy. He told me…

Dealing with a losing streak

By Shabbir | July 26, 2007 | Comments Off on Dealing with a losing streak

My poker buddy Chris sent this advice for how to deal with a poker losing streak.  I thought it was thoughtful of him to write it up and so I’ve reproduced it here with his permission.  Thought I continue to have overall net losses uncharacteristic of me, I’m playing a low enough stakes that I’m…

Those silly airplane video interviews.

By Shabbir | July 25, 2007 | Comments Off on Those silly airplane video interviews.

You know when you’re on the plane and you see those silly interviews with CEOs of companies you’ve never heard of, in industries you didn’t know existed, making products you doubt you’d ever buy?  I always knew those interviews were "placed" and paid for, but it never occurred to me how much they actually cost.…

Someone finally found a use for Twitter

By Shabbir | July 24, 2007 | Comments Off on Someone finally found a use for Twitter

Twitter’s service allows you to send messages to an address and have them echoed to your circle of friends.  This would be unremarkable except that Twitter is mostly used between cellphones, creating a sort of broadcast  nightmare if your circle of friends includes only one idiot. I have several acquaintances who talk about signing up…

Overlooking a bet size in No Limit

By Shabbir | July 24, 2007 | Comments Off on Overlooking a bet size in No Limit

So here in california they have baby no limit: $100 maximum buyin, with $1-$1-$2 blinds.  (The ‘dealer’ pays the extra dollar).  I decided to play it today and did pretty well.  Sadly one mistake can lose your stack in no limit, and I made one doozie.  I’m glossing over the hand or two I played…

Squid Pie and Skippy’s List

By Shabbir | July 18, 2007 | Comments Off on Squid Pie and Skippy’s List

While I’m sitting here not producing the presentation I should be, I’m appreciating something called "Skippy’s List" of the 213 things he’s not allowed to do in the US Army.  I post it here merely because I’m laughing out loud at this and the Squid Pie story. Some of my favorites: 7. Not allowed to…

Second thoughts on Second Life

By Shabbir | July 17, 2007 | Comments Off on Second thoughts on Second Life

A lot of people that I thought should have known better rushed into Second Life thinking it was the next big thing.  I pooh-pooh’ed it, but others who thought they saw potential continued to run with the idea, both within my firm and elsewhere in the industry.  (and now you know that I don’t have…

Tip: Use free Starbucks cards to self-budget your coffee habit.

By Shabbir | July 12, 2007 |

Sarah and I use Quicken to manage an annual household budget.  Everything goes in there.  Monthly set-asides for the property tax bills, the home insurance, we’ve got it all covered.  It should come as no surprise when we began this process that we were living beyond our means. As we began to lockdown our personal…